Help avoid foreign rip-offs

THE growing popularity of internet shopping has led to a flood of complaints from people trying to get their money back after making purchases in other EU countries.

But online purchases are not the only source of difficulties. Traditional problem hot-spots such as holiday clubs and timeshares account for 38% of all the complaints received.

Citizens Advice, the consumer charity, says it has seen a two-thirds increase in the number of people seeking help to get either their money back or a replacement following purchases abroad.

The UK office of the European Consumer Centre, which Citizens Advice runs, received nearly 500 complaints last year, up from just 291 in the previous year.

It has now launched a new website

to help to help shoppers who have lost out after buying goods or services while abroad.

Not surprisingly, the areas that came in for the most criticism were holiday clubs and timeshares, accounting for 38% of all the complaints received. 28% of complaints were made about defective products, while 16% related to non-delivery.

Around half of all queries made to the centre in 2003 concerned goods or services bought in shops or trading premises, but the remainder related to purchases ordered online, or by fax or telephone.

People holidaying in Spain in particular may want to think carefully before splashing out, with 40% of people based in the UK complaining about Spanish traders.

British companies don't escape scot-free. A third of complaints made to the centre in 2003 were from people living abroad and unhappy about goods or services bought in the UK.

Ruth Bamford, if the UK European Consumer Centre, said: 'We think the problems seen by the European Consumer Centre are just the tip of the iceberg. Many more consumers simply give up because they wrongly feel there's no redress once they've left the country concerned.